The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 82

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 82
82. Round 6 Begins
The ones approaching Ryu Min were none other than Seo A-rin and An Sang-chul.
“It’s been a while, Black Scythe.”
As she spoke, Seo A-rin glanced sideways at Min Ju-ri.
“But who is this person…?”
“Why would I need to explain?”
“Ah, yes, of course…”
Seo A-rin laughed as if acknowledging his point, but her heart felt otherwise.
‘Why does she get a smile while I get the cold shoulder…’
Seo A-rin felt a pang of disappointment at his curt response.
“So what brings you to me?”
“Well, that is…”
Ryu Min pretended ignorance despite knowing the reason.
‘They must have come because I prophesied they should form a party with Black Scythe.’
Meanwhile, the two of them seemed to be struggling with how to respond.
They couldn’t exactly tell him it was a prophecy.
After deliberating, An Sang-chul finally spoke.
“Um, Black Scythe. To be honest, we would like to form a party with you.”
“A party? You two with me?”
“I know. We understand we’d only be a burden. But I promise we’ll do our absolute best to ensure we don’t cause you any trouble.”
Seo A-rin and An Sang-chul were deadly serious.
The seer had told them that Round 6 could be cleared easily if they stayed with Black Scythe, so they couldn’t back down.
“Hmm.”
Ryu Min stroked his chin as if contemplating.
To be honest, the two of them were just warm bodies filling slots.
They were expendable either way.
There were plenty of replacements around.
All he had to do was open his arms and anyone would come running to party with him.
‘But what if I set aside others and bring these two into my party?’
An Sang-chul would report this fact, and Ma Gyeong-rok would view Black Scythe more favorably.
‘Building goodwill for the future never hurts.’
Though Ryu Min had already decided, he feigned deliberation—a sight that made observers sweat nervously.
Driven by urgency, An Sang-chul made his pitch.
“I’m not asking to join for free. I have information about Round 6. If you’ll party with us, I’m prepared to share that information…”
“Not necessary.”
‘That’s all information I gave to you guys anyway.’
He muttered this internally, but An Sang-chul, who had no way of knowing this, wore a puzzled expression.
“Why, why do you say it’s not necessary? Wouldn’t it help to know the strategy for Round 6 in advance?”
“I clear dungeons my own way. I have no intention of relying on unverifiable information.”
“B-but….”
‘Why not have a little fun with this?’
Watching An Sang-chul’s flustered expression, a mischievous impulse stirred within me.
“But where did you get that information?”
“Eh? W-what information are you referring to…?”
“The information about Round 6 you just mentioned. Who’s your source?”
As the risk of exposing the Prophet’s existence loomed—far from gaining a party—An Sang-chul’s panic deepened.
“Won’t you tell me? Even if I said I’d let you join the party?”
“Ah, w-well….”
An Sang-chul, wavering uncertainly, bowed his head low.
“I-I’m sorry.”
An Sang-chul proved to be surprisingly tight-lipped.
‘He won’t reveal the Prophet’s existence.’
Of course, he’d kept silent out of fear of falling out of Ma Gyeong-rok’s favor, but that didn’t diminish my satisfaction.
An Sang-chul, meanwhile, looked dejected.
‘Damn it, I didn’t manage to join Black Scythe’s party as planned.’
Unable to secure a spot in the party.
He had no face to show the director.
Then unexpected words spilled from Ryu Min’s lips.
“I’ll accept you into the party.”
“W-well, I suppose there’s no choice… What?”
At the unexpected offer, both Seo A-rin and An Sang-chul’s eyes widened.
“W-why…?”
“The fact that you won’t divulge your information source tells me you’re trustworthy. I can’t stand people with loose tongues.”
“Ah….”
An Sang-chul exhaled with relief, realizing he would have been marked as unreliable had he mentioned the Prophet.
“Th-thank you so much! Thank you for accepting us!”
“Thank you, Black Scythe.”
The two expressed their gratitude, then turned their attention to Min Ju-ri.
They still seemed curious about her relationship with me.
“She’s a buffer I have a contract with.”
‘A contract? A buffer?’
‘How did that relationship come about?’
Both had many questions, but decided to ask about the contract first.
“A contract relationship means….”
“That’s how it is.”
“….”
Their desire to inquire evaporated instantly.
It felt like asking further would yield nothing.
Seo A-rin shifted her gaze to Min Ju-ri and extended her hand.
“Hello, I’m Seo A-rin. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh, yes… I’m Min Ju-ri. You wouldn’t happen to be the celebrity Seo A-rin, would you? You just changed your face to look similar, right?”
“No, this is my real face.”
“What? Then you’re the actress Seo A-rin from ‘Oh My, What a Life’?”
“Yes. I’m that actress Seo A-rin.”
“Really? Your face and name are identical, so I just had to ask!”
Min Ju-ri beamed with genuine delight.
Seeing a television celebrity in person seemed to fascinate her.
“Oh my, ‘Oh My, What a Life’ is wonderful! My father loves that drama! He’s especially fond of actress Seo A-rin!”
“Oh, really? Thank you for watching it.”
Seo A-rin bowed her head gracefully.
While Min Ju-ri continued chattering excitedly, An Sang-chul turned his gaze toward Ryu Min.
“Um… would it truly be alright if I didn’t provide information about Round 6?”
“Not necessary. Don’t bother offering it. I don’t want to hear talk of owing favors.”
“Ah, if that’s the case…”
The sharp boundary drawn left An Sang-chul feeling inwardly disappointed.
‘I was hoping to repay the debt by providing information at least…’
There was nothing he could do if Ryu Min refused.
‘If he ever deviates from the strategy, I should offer subtle hints from the sidelines.’
He had intended to help if Ryu Min failed to follow the information he’d provided, but that wouldn’t happen.
Black Scythe was Ryu Min, and Ryu Min was Black Scythe.
As An Sang-chul shifted his attention, the two women were still conversing.
“By the way, Min Ju-ri. Your job is a Buffer?”
“Yes. It’s a job that applies buffs, and I’ll apply them to everyone later.”
“I have something similar to buffs too…”
“Really?”
“My summoned creature, a Fairy, grants protective barriers.”
“A summoned creature? You have summoned creatures?”
“My job is a Summoner. I can summon a total of three creatures, and I’ll show you later.”
That’s when An Sang-chul suddenly interjected.
“Forgive the interruption. I thought introductions were in order. I’m An Sang-chul.”
“Oh, nice to meet you. Earlier, you seemed to know Black Scythe…”
“I received help from him before. Black Scythe saved both our lives.”
“Ah… so that’s what happened.”
Min Ju-ri looked at Black Scythe in surprise.
He even saved people in danger.
‘My instincts were right after all.’
Min Ju-ri felt once again that Black Scythe was unexpectedly a warm-hearted person.
As time passed and more people gathered.
[Hello, humans. Did you all rest well for the past month?]
Priscilla appeared in a flash of light.
[This round has 1,010 participants. A perfect number, wouldn’t you say? Shall we get down to business?]
A message window materialized before the players’ eyes without fail.
◀ ROUND 6 ▶
【Quest】
└Defeat one boss within 6 hours
[All Districts]
└Participants: 16,120,590
└Achievers: 0/8,060,295
[C-ESKS007 District]
└Participants: 1,010
└Achievers: 0/505
The players who saw the quest murmured amongst themselves.
“What? Defeat a single boss?”
“Is a boss finally appearing?”
“How are we supposed to take down a boss alone?”
Hearing their whispers, Priscilla let out a light chuckle.
[Did you really think I’d ask you to defeat a boss solo? Don’t worry—you absolutely cannot do it alone anyway.]
“We absolutely cannot?”
“Then how are we supposed to…?”
[Obviously, you’ll have to work together in groups. That’s why I’ve prepared something for you: the party system.]
“The party system?”
[A party is a system that allows groups to form and cooperate with one another. You need five people to establish a party, and once formed, you’ll be recognized as allies—meaning you won’t take damage from each other’s attacks.]
“Oh, no damage?”
“So we don’t have to worry about getting stabbed in the back by our own allies during combat?”
“That’s actually convenient.”
[However, attacks from other parties and monsters will still connect. Only your party members’ attacks become ineffective.]
The players nodded in understanding.
The difficulty of the quest suddenly made sense.
If five people gathered to defeat a boss, it seemed manageable.
[When you’re in a party and defeat a monster, experience and gold are distributed equally among all members, regardless of who dealt the killing blow. Just keep in mind that if the distance between you exceeds 100 meters, the distribution won’t apply.]
“Oh, experience and gold are split equally?”
“Isn’t that like communism or something?”
“I think it’s fair, actually.”
“But what about items? How are those distributed?”
[Items are different from experience and gold—they’re distributed probabilistically based on contribution. For example, if two people contributed 70% and 30% respectively to defeating a monster, their chances of obtaining an item would be proportional to those percentages.]
“Ah, so whoever contributes more to defeating the monster has a higher chance of claiming the item.”
[You understand well, human.]
“But conversely, even with low contribution, you could get lucky and claim an item, right?”
[Exactly. Even with just 1% contribution, if luck is on your side, you can claim the item. The probability would be low, of course.]
“Angel! I have a question!”
[Go ahead, human.]
“How is contribution measured? Do you get higher contribution just by dealing more damage? If that’s the case, isn’t it unfair for people with lower damage output?”
[That’s a good question. Normally, higher damage would correlate with higher contribution, but it’s not necessarily proportional. Contribution is measured by the system considering and evaluating all circumstances. In other words, even a player who only applies buffs receives contribution credit.]
“Seriously…? You get contribution just from applying buffs?”
“Wow, buffer classes must have it made.”
Angel was right.
Contribution is calculated by comprehensively evaluating all circumstances.
Even with low damage, if you made a critical contribution to defeating the monster, you receive high contribution.
Conversely, if you saved an ally and that ultimately helped defeat the monster, that also yields high contribution.
‘That’s why non-combat classes like Priests and Buffers can secure high contribution in a party.’
The party system isn’t exclusive to this round alone.
It opens whenever necessary situations arise, and the required number of members varies each time.
‘For me right now, a party is nothing but a hindrance…’
But I can’t refuse either.
[By the way, if you don’t form a party, any monsters you defeat will be invalidated, so keep that in mind.]
The system forces parties, just as Angel mentioned.
I can’t simply choose to solo.
‘Though it’s not without advantages.’
The advantage of a party is that you can trust your allies’ backs and cooperate without worry.
And.
[Once you form a party and defeat just one boss, you immediately clear the round. All five of you.]
“All… all five of you?”
Since you share a common fate, the Quest is shared among all members.
[I’ve released 101 bosses on the current field. In other words, only 505 people who defeat bosses can survive.]
Angel laughed and flapped her wings.
[That concludes the explanation about parties. The Quest isn’t complicated either, right? It’s a very simple Quest—just defeat one boss and you clear it.]
‘She’s not even mocking us, just saying everything’s simple.’
A smirk played at the corner of my lips.
Because the Quest was far from simple, despite what she said.
[Well then, humans. Do your best hunting bosses. Oh, and there are no sub-quests, so keep that in mind.]
Angel fluttered her wings and vanished in a flash of light.
Round 6 had begun.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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